Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Contest Winner and Blog Update

Before I get to the contest itself I'd like to take a moment to update you on this blog. With the tumultuous advent of our Google + milieu disappearing in the next 10 months, I've been contemplating the end of the blog. Let me rephrase that. I'm anticipating Google's blogger platform to go by the wayside soon after Google + shuts down. Why you may ask? Because Google is a money making enterprise and it makes good business sense to stop spending resources on products that don't make a profit. I don't see how Blogger makes Google any money, unless some of them are providing some sort of advertising revenue. Therefore, at this stage I'm trying to figure out if I should start moving the blog over to WordPress, start my own web page, or give up entirely. At this stage I'm working on backing up all of my articles for archival purposes. Whether or not I jump ship to another platform is yet to be seen. So what this means to you right now is absolutely nothing. You won't see a change for some time to come but I just wanted you to be aware. Well, at least the 9 of you anyway.To be honest, I was worried that choosing a winner would be extremely difficult but that isn't the case. I thought this contest was broad enough and interesting enough that I would have to sift through quite a few submissions. I was wrong. I don't know if its just lack of interest, too lazy to make an effort, or afraid of looking bad that people didn't submit anything. Maybe they thought the prize was crap. Only you can tell me what went wrong. Please do tell me so I can make it better next time. I mean, who doesn't want free stuff?Any who. On to the winner's. Yes I said winner'S. When I said it wasn't difficult to pick I wasn't kidding. All three submissions are winners in my book. This was a last minute change because it was clear that the people who submitted entries put in a bunch of effort. While first place will get the aforementioned prize, second and third will get a pair of custom dice, a sticker, and an iron on patch. Second and third place will also get one of Thaddeus Moore's OSR patches (randomly determined by me).

On to the submissions.The first submission I received was from Marco (I'm not sure if he wants his full name here). At first glance it looks like it was just whipped up in a few minutes but clearly some thought was put into it. I really dig the pumpkin layout of the wizard laboratory.

The second submission I received was from Harrison Hunt of the famous Tabletop Twats (or infamous, depending on how you look at it). His submission was a little more unique than I envisioned. As a matter of fact I'm still unsure if his is a joke or not because I asked him to provide me with a brief write up of how he did it and what his inspiration was. I've yet to hear back from him on this. Any way, his submission can be found at https://sinemora1.bandcamp.com/track/labyrinth-lord-singleLast but not least, Eric Lamoureux from The Wild Die Podcast submitted an entry. His submission stood out to me as I thought he followed the guidelines more rigidly than the others. He took the time to snap in-progress pictures and teach us how to do what he did. You can find his submission on his blog at http://goodbadskinny.blogspot.com/2018/09/tabletop-crafting-tower.htmlAnd the winner is... Drum Roll Please...Eric LamoureuxCongratulations to everyone who participated and thank you for your efforts. I really enjoyed seeing them.Don't forget to come on out to Con on the Cob in November and hang out with some Nerds. We will have our own section with a few tables in the atrium near the swimming pool. Who knows, maybe you can meet some famous people like Stephen from The Dragons Toolbox or the elusive beer drinking bird watcher from Imaginary Ramblings